Orphan Girl
by McAbbyGirl4Life
Summary: After a rough fight with her father on Christmas Eve, Gosalyn wonders what life would have been like had Darkwing Duck never adopted her. *A Christmas Carol spoof with a twist* *On Hiatus, might finish next year*
1. The Chainsaw That Started It All

**Disclaimer: I don't own Darkwing Duck or Teddy Scares.  
**

**A/N So...I'm gonna just say it: I'm officially coming out of the nerd closet! I love cartoons, and Darkwing Duck is my absolute favorite! Gosalyn is my childhood superhero so it only makes sense for me to do a fic about her. This story also contains quite a bit of Gosalyn/Darkwing father-daughter stuff, because out of all the things I adore about Darkwing Duck, their relationship is at the top of the list! **

**Without further ado...A Christmas Carol Spoof done DW Style!**

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The atmosphere of 537 Avian Way had two very specific extremes that it always bounced between. One was the calm, unfeeling existence of an empty house, entirely noiseless and the epitome of peace. The other was a vivid, boisterous picture of undiluted chaos. The theme song of the house, when inclining towards the latter extreme, was a conglomeration of breaking glass, laughter, the technical whirs of video games, exasperated shouting, and smoke alarms. When this melody was playing, the neighbors knew to be wary of passing the house's windows lest they should receive a hockey puck shaped bruise to the forehead. But right now, whatever nightly stragglers wandering about at 1:23 AM on Christmas Eve were free to pass without fear of injury for the house was as still as a gravestone. But not for long…

"Gosalyn, its not a matter of your capability it's a matter of your safety! How many times have I told you, when we fight Negaduck, you are supposed to stay home no matter what!" Darkwing Duck rebuked his rambunctious daughter, almost dumping her on the floor as he got up from the blue recliner with her still in is lap.

"But Dad—" Gosalyn complained, her fiery red pigtails swaying in protest.

"No "buts" young lady, it's the rule of the house! If you and your "Quiverwing Quack" persona hadn't showed up, I wouldn't have been obligated to protect you and Negaduck might not have gotten away!" Darkwing insisted with vigor. They had been arguing back and forth with tantamount zest for the past 13 minutes since Negaduck had escaped their clutches.

"Oh, so your saying I'm the reason we lost? I don't remember me being the one to fall for _the banana peel_ gag _again_!" Gosalyn pointed out smugly.

"That was a perfectly justifiable mistake that anyone would have made!" Darkwing retorted indignantly.

"Oh yeah, especially a _seasoned_ crime fighter!" Gosalyn countered sarcastically. It was the tiniest bit below the belt, but Gosalyn couldn't help giggle as her father's face smoldered a little at the insult. He always made the oddest expressions when irate.

"I don't appreciate sarcasm, little lady, and neither does your allowance," Darkwing admonished through gritted teeth.

"Look guys, I don't think it's either of your faults. I think Negaduck was just extra vigilant tonight, what with it being Christmas Eve and all. You know how he hates happy stuff." Launch Pad broke in smoothly, evading the inception of an even smokier argument.

"Yeah…you're right LP," Darkwing agreed reluctantly, "But that doesn't mean we let him get away with it! I should be back out there."

He gazed wistfully out the window and Gosalyn sighed despairingly.

"Oh Dad, come on! If we stay home we can still spend Christmas Eve together. Hey we can watch "A Christmas Carol", with all the creepy ghosts, and the big, cloaked bringer of death!" She announced excitedly, flipping the hood of her Quiverwing cloak over her head to mimic the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come with energetic exaggeration.

"Oh joy. I can hardly wait." Darkwing muttered satirically, earning a glare from his daughter.

"Look, Launch Pad why don't you and Gosalyn stay up watching your little movie that's gonna give you nightmares, while I go catch Negaduck!" Darkwing proposed as if it was the brightest idea in the world.

"No Dad! We're supposed to spend Christmas Eve as a family. If you let us go with you though…" Gosalyn trailed hopefully.

"Absolutely not!"

"Then why don't you stay, DW? Its Christmas! You're supposed to have a break." Launch Pad said sensibly.

"Oh, I'm supposed to sit here and eat cookies and milk while Negaduck terrorizes my city with his tasteless trickery?" demanded Darkwing.

"Well…that's one way to put it," Gosalyn replied with a smirk at her dad's unconscious use of alliteration. "Please Dad? Its Christmas tradition to spend Christmas with your family."

She put on her best pleading pout and waited for the magical affects to take place. Her father's eyes softened but he still seemed resolute.

"Ah, c'mon Gos, its just you and Launch Pad." Darkwing tried earnestly.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Gosalyn growled suspiciously.

"Nothing sweetie," Her father backpedaled immediately, "It's just that I spend practically every waking moment with you and LP," He changed his tone with ludicrous swiftness when Gosalyn struck him with a defiant glower, "And I love every second of it, but this is Negaduck we're talking about—"

"And you fight him practically every other weekend! But if you'd rather spend your Christmas with _Negaduck_ then with us, fine!" Gosalyn shouted at him, feeling stung.

"Its not like we're your real family, anyway," She muttered as she turned to clamber up the staircase.

"Hey, hey, hey, now what's _that_ supposed to mean?" Darkwing demanded, grabbing her should her and spinning her to face him again.

"Nothing _Dad_," She spat the word, "Now go spend your Christmas with your demonic twin, since its so obvious you'd rather spend it with him than your _adopted_ daughter!" She enunciated the word "adopted" with unnecessary sardonic emphasis, and before her father could react she wrenched out of his grip and went hurdling up to her room.

Gosalyn threw herself down onto her bed with the force of an anvil, causing the sturdy bed's springs to groan on impact. Tears splashed inadvertently onto her pillow, glistening for a second then absorbing into the fabric without a second thought, the only trace of their existence in the little wet marks that spattered the pillowcase. She punched the squashy pillow angrily as if it had done her some great offense. And it had! It had caught the tears she wasn't supposed to be crying, the moist dots a solid reflection that the pain aching in chest was very much real.

"I am _not_ a cry baby!" She announced stoutly to her silent room, and determinedly mopped up the tears dripping down her beak with a shaking wing.

"I'm not a baby either," She added to the still quiet room, glaring around the darkened space with beady eyes as if to silence a condescending smirk that her poster filled walls were giving her, "I don't need a dad or a Darkwing Duck to take care of me. I can do that just fine on my own!"

She didn't know when the thoughts had started, but the idea of her not being Darkwing's actual flesh and blood daughter started nagging at her mind. It was a stupid concept, that her father, whom she adored, might not love her so much as he felt obligated to take care of her because she was not his true daughter, but the thoughts still persisted no matter how many times she squelched them. Tonight's little outburst was just a compilation of those thoughts seeping out.

Soft footsteps could be heard making their way tiredly up the steps, and Gosalyn knew where the webbed feet would soon be headed. With a remorseful sigh she yanked back her blankets and shoved herself under the sheets of her bed, closing her eyes in feigned sleep. Dad always fell for it.

A few tentative knocks echoed in the still room.

"Gosalyn? Sweetheart, are you awake?" Darkwing whispered gently, creaking the door open slightly so that the rays of the hall light attacked the comforting darkness of her room.

Gosalyn kept her eyes firmly shut and her body completely sedate, but she couldn't help flinching somewhat when she felt the weight of her dad's body sink into the foot of her bed. He sat there, utterly immobile for a long time. Then she felt his wing brush the bangs tenderly from her face.

"I love you, slugger. Don't you forget it," He murmured, pressing a gentle kiss to her forehead. The weight at the end of her bed receded, and within seconds the tangible presence of her dad dissolved with the disappearing hall light.

Gosalyn snuffled a little. She loved her dad more than anything in the world. More than video games, and adventures, and gory movies with fantastic monsters and special affects. But, before sleep staked its claim on her she couldn't help wondering what her life would have been like it Darkwing Duck had never adopted her.

* * *

There were many terrible ways to be woken up in the middle of a deep sleep ranging from ice water to the face, someone jumping on your stomach, or smoke filling your lungs when you realize your house is on fire. But to Gosalyn, waking up to the deathly rev of a chainsaw definitely topped the list.

"Wh-what's going on!" She exclaimed, snatching up her hockey stick that she kept by her bedside, her sleep-blury eyes straining to find the location of the chainsaw. When her eyes met the figure of the towering Teddy Scare Redmond Gore from one of her favorite teddy bear zombie flicks _The Lifeblood of Edwin Morose _she froze with fright and thrill.

"All right, back off whack-job or I'll pound you into fluff and eat your stuffing for breakfast!" Gosalyn declared brazenly, raising her hockey stick threateningly as if it were a weapon fit for annihilation.

"Hey, take it easy there, kid. Don't jump to conclusions," Redmond Gore said in a muffled voice through the burlap sack smothering his face.

"There's a giant, chainsaw-wielding, teddy bear in my room, what conclusions do you _think_ I'm jumping to?" Gosalyn retorted, gripping her stick all the more tightly.

"Look, the whole chainsaw revving thing…I was just trying to wake you up with some theatrics. Didn't think you'd take it so seriously," Redmond Gore replied in a mollifying fashion, placing his beloved chainsaw carefully on the floor.

"So…why exactly is a Teddy Scare from one of my favorite movies in my bedroom?" Gosalyn said slowly, adrenaline alleviating her alarm, and replacing it with exhilaration. Redmond Gore, the famed Teddy serial killer was in her room! She wanted an autograph ASAP.

"Well, I'm here to answer your question," Redmond Gore replied succinctly.

"What question?"

"What life would be like if Darkwing Duck had never adopted you," He answered.

"Ohhh…" Gosalyn exclaimed, "That question. In that case," she dropped her lethal stance and plopped down on her bed, "What's the answer?"

"Actually, I'm not really the one with answers. I'm just the messenger bear. But I will tell you this: the ones that have answers will be visiting you tonight. The first ghost—"

"Ghost?!" Gosalyn yelled eagerly, "Keen gear!"

"Most people don't take the idea of being visited by dead things brought back to life so…enthusiastically. You're rather unnerving." Redmond Gore observed curiously.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, get used to it." Gosalyn replied dismissively, "You were saying?"

"Right. The first ghost is supposed to be here at 2:00 AM but he's always late." Redmond Gore sighed dramatically, "Too many electrical shocks to the head messed with his internal clock, I suppose…well, I'd best be off. Good luck, Gosalyn Mallard."

"Wait!" Gosalyn cried before he reached the door, "Will you sign my hockey stick for me?"

Redmond Gore looked at her peculiarly, before his eyes brightened and she swore that if he didn't have his mask on he'd be smiling.

"Of course."

"Hang on…were'd I put that pen…" She grappled around with the mess on her desk for a few moments but came up negative.

"No need," Redmond Gore said impishly and in one swift movement swiped a massive paw against the sharp teeth of the chainsaw. Gosalyn watched with squeamish pleasure as he wrote his signature in blood on her hockey stick.

"Here you go," He said, handing her the stick.

Gosalyn grinned down at it.

"You're the best serial killer out there, Redmon—"

But by the time she looked up the Teddy Scare was already gone.

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**You guys up for more? Review and tell me what ya think!**


	2. Good Ol' Megsy

**Woohoo, next chapter! So glad you guys enjoyed the first!** **Cookies all around!**

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2:08

That's what her clock read in bold, taunting red numbers. Gosalyn couldn't take waiting. It was so long. So boring. So- so…. time consuming.

"Hey, ghost," she sang softly, "Think you could show up soon? You know, I _am_ an 11-year-old girl. I've got places to go, people to see, homework not to do, vases in need of breaking…you get the point."

2:11

"I can't believe I'm being stood up by a ghost," Gosalyn grumbled, resting her chin grumpily in her cupped wings.

"I? Stand someone up?" A voice rang out from behind her and suddenly the room was filled with a blinding light, "That sort of behavior is far below me, for I am the streetlight that shines in the night, I am the blackout that ruins your dinner party, I am—"

"Megavolt!" Gosalyn exclaimed, taking in the sight of the deranged rat in a yellow jumpsuit with the unappealing fashion statement of a plug for a hat, "Hang on a sec, you're not a ghost. What are you doing here and why…why do you have wings?" She tacked on as an astonished afterthought, just now detecting the peculiar white wings jutting from the rat's back. They shivered and shimmered with electricity and Gosalyn found herself vaguely mesmerized.

"Yeah well," Megavolt mumbled sheepishly, "They weren't exactly part of the job description. Actually I'm not really sure I signed up for this job," He scratched his head thoughtfully, "At least I don't remember signing up for this job. I don't remember how I got here either…"

"Do you remember _why_ you're here?" Gosalyn asked.

"Uh…to wish you a Merry Christmas?" Megavolt suggested tentatively.

"Well…thanks! Merry Christmas to you too! But Redmond Gore specifically said that you were coming to answer my question. Or is all this some big ruse to capture Darkwing Duck?" she questioned suspiciously.

"Darkwing Duck! Ooooh, I hate that guy! But what's he got to do with you?" Megavolt asked bewilderedly.

"Well he's…" Gosalyn stopped a moment to ponder what she ought to say. All of this was so utterly bizarre that it could only be a dream, meaning telling Megavolt that Darkwing Duck was her father wouldn't matter in reality. And if for some unexplainably odd reason if it turned out this wasn't a dream, she could just resort to pouring a glass of water on him, and he'd short out and forget the whole ordeal.

"Yes?" Megavolt emphasized impatiently.

"He's my dad," Gosalyn blurted before she could change her mind.

"Your dad? Hey wait a second…aren't I supposed to answer some question? Like…like what would have happened if Dorkwing had never adopted you, or something like that?" Megavolt said with dawning comprehension as if a lightbulb in his brain had abruptly been brought to life.

"Yup!" Gosalyn said with a rush of relief. Maybe ol' Megsy's brain wasn't _completely _fried after all.

"Yeah…yeah. Okay, come with me little girl, we got some things to see." Megavolt declared with a rare smile, offering her his gloved hand.

Gosalyn cautiously took it, wondering if this might be potentially be putting her life in jeopardy, but brushed the thought aside when a amusing thought came dancing into her mind. This was a perfect Kodak moment: her holding hands with a supervillian. If only her dad were here to see, he'd blow a gasket!

"Okay, first stop: to the past!" Megavolt murmured, "Oh, and this might sting a little,"

Before Gosalyn could ask what he meant, a jolting zing of electricity shuddered through her body and the room began to spin crazily. Blurs of daylight and darkness from the sole window in her room caused a sensational haze of shadows comprised of light, and beams of sun made of inky darkness to swirl around until Gosalyn started to feel pleasantly sick. Her grip on Megavolt's hand tightened, an inaudible question as to when the delightful but nauseating roller coaster ride would be over. He gave a squeeze in return and unexpectedly the endless cycle of circling halted.

"Thanks for the fair warning," Gosalyn gasped, clutching her stomach and smirking up at the rat.

"Hey, I think you handled that well. Most people throw up the first time," Megavolt grinned, his own pale face a mild shade of green.

"Where are we exactly?" Gosalyn asked, glancing around the room that was undeniably hers, but with several irksome faults, like a puzzle missing several pieces: one can still make out the picture but something isn't quite right. She walked cautiously over to the window peering out at her surroundings. The sun was barely waking up, shaking its mild golden rays in the sky like flyaway hair in a summer breeze.

"We're in your room, approximately 3 years ago. You're eight years old and it's your first Christmas morning with Darkwing Duck," Megavolt recited promptly as if from a textbook.

"Woah," He added, sounding dazed, "Where'd that come from?"

"Cool beans! C'mon, lets go downstairs and watch my past self open presents," Gosalyn shouted, grabbing Megavolt's hand and dragging him out of her room.

Voices could be heard emanating from the living room as they went galumphing down the stairs. Gosalyn scampered breathlessly towards the familiar tenor of her father's voice, but stumbled to a grinding halt at the sight that befell her eyes. Something about the scene caused her heart to pound in her ears in wonderful anticipation. Her past-self, donned in a ghastly (was there any other kind?) Christmas sweater with stubby red pigtails protruding from the sides of her head, was holding out a badly wrapped gift to a curious but startled looking Darkwing Duck.

"Ah, Gos," her dad said with forced composure, hesitantly receiving the gift, "You didn't have to get me anything. It's not something that would be um…hazardous to daddy's heath now would it?" he added carefully.

"Ah, Dad" her younger self mimicked mockingly, "Stop being such a baby and open it!"

Gosalyn remembered with vivid detail the feeling of anxiety that had squirmed in her stomach when she gave her father that gift. They had been together for something like 5 months at the time, and things were going smoothly yet still giving her new guardian a 1# Dad mug felt like a huge leap in their relationship. He had been a 1# Dad to her over the past few months, but Gosalyn recalled being shy, something she nearly never was, about tell Darkwing this. Everything was still too new, still too unsure, still too breakable.

Gosalyn watched with the deepest of fascination as her memory-dad tore of the paper with a flourish, his eyes widening as they roamed over the message inscribed on the mug. A warm, fuzzy puppy like sensation nestled in her chest when Darkwing scooped up her past-self in a tender hug, his eyes glistening with something other than just joy.

"Gos, I hope with all my heart that I can live up to this mug. Just-just having you here with me is the best present I could ever have wished for. I love you, sweetheart," Darkwing murmured into her eight-year-old self's flaming hair.

Though the words were slightly muffled, Gosalyn could hear them clearly simply because they played through her mind often.

"I love you too, Dad. Now stop being all mushy, we got presents to open!" Past-Gosalyn declared with gusto, leaping on the stacks of presents like the athlete she was.

A soft sniffling noise caught Gosalyn off guard, and she turned to find Megavolt blowing his nose into a handkerchief.

"That was- _sniff_- the most beautiful- _sniff _– thing I've ever –_sniff_- seen!" He garbled through tears.

"Yeah, kinda is," Gosalyn agreed softly, her eyes still glued to her younger self tearing through mounds of presents. And the adoring expression her father furtively beamed upon her small self did not slide past her notice.

"Do you really want to know what it would be like if that had never happened? If you were still Gosalyn Waddlemeyer?" Megavolt asked, his tone indecipherable through the stuffiness of his nose.

Gosalyn thought about this for split second. Then, with a nonchalant shrug of her shoulders, she nodded.

"I've gone this far. Why not?"

"Okay. But the next guy's a wacko, just warning you," Megavolt admonished, holding his hand out.

"I think anyone whose in this line of business has a few screws loose," Gosalyn muttered, willingly accepting his hand.

"This might-"

"Sting a little. Got it."

And she meant that in more ways than one.

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**Hey, its been a tough day...a review would make me really happy, just so you know :)**


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